subject: How to start a Car Wash Business and Successfully Market It Online [print this page] How to start a Car Wash Business and Successfully Market It Online
Getting your new car wash business right from the outset can prove to be a very profitable venture. But big potential profits and relatively low barriers to entry means lots of strong competition. So how do you start a car wash business and succeed in today's crowded marketplace?
Here's a step by step guide to creating your own car wash business, how I did it and how you can learn from the ideas and mistakes I've made along the way.
Step One - Establish A Niche.
The first thing you need to do is to establish your niche something that little bit different that nobody else is currently doing (or doing well) to make you stand out as unique and interesting to prospective customers and potential contract businesses who could use your service. This is the hardest aspect of getting started, because as you search, you'll find a successful car wash operation already filling the niche you think that you've just created.
But don't despair, niches come in all shapes and sizes from high volume-low cost car wash services to low volume-high detailing services. Even Eco Car Wash services are proving very popular in today's earth friendly marketplace.
Your niche is out there go and find it!
Here are a few ideas to help you out.why not try.
Creating a Car Wash That Seems To Be Free (all outside cleaning is free when booked with a full interior clean). You could call it The Free Car Wash Co. and make the money on higher value interior cleans or vice versa.
Creating a Car Wash for Eco Cars Only (the fastest growing car market) using waterless or green technology? Maybe you could call it We Only Clean Green?
Creating a Car Wash for Mall/Shopping Centres where the customer gets their car cleaned by your company at a discounted rate in exchange for taking subsidized coupons for shops within the mall? You then receive a commission from the coupons if they are used? Maybe you could call it Car Wash Coupon Co.
There are literally hundreds of untapped car wash ideas out there.
Step Two - Decide On A Name.
Once your niche is decided then it's time to find a memorable business name and in turn a strong domain name to complement and enhance your online offering.
When thinking of a business name it's important that your chosen name can be easily spelt and remembered, or at the very least, a name that has a relevance to the car wash business type you are establishing. This will give your customers the feeling of authenticity of your new brand and will help them to make a trusted decision.
Often short snappy names are the easiest to remember, but rhyming names, taglines and phrases can work and remain in the memory of potential buyers for weeks after they first find out about your business or visit your website.
Don't panic if the perfect domain name for your business is already taken (as nearly all the best domain names will have all been bought). Sometimes it's better to have a keyword friendly domain that will help you rank in the search engines quicker than a specific business domain name that will require extra search engine optimization. Try to buy a .com if at all possible, but .net or a local domain option such as .co.uk should still help you rank well for your targeted or local audience.
Step Three Get The Branding Right.
Branding. Spend as much as you can on the best designer possible and ask for a number of simple designs which you can choose from that will work well both on and offline and gain confidence. Try and have a tagline incorporated into the design or a feature of the design which differentiates you from the crowd.
Under no circumstances (unless you're a qualified brand designer) should you try to do this yourself. It will almost definitely look cheap and will reduce potential sales.
Step Four Style and Speed Is Important
Choosing a style for your car wash website and sticking to it is crucial to getting your online business off the ground and thus creating car wash bookings for you offline.
Most people like to chop and change little features on their websites before it's even live to improve the customer experience and this is absolutely fine, yet it's crucial to see the bigger picture and find a designer who you can work with long term and get the site started to help gain crucial online ranking positions.
A good designer will help you develop a website that has longevity and importantly return short term cash flow to help your fledgling business from the outset. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint get started and tweak as you go.
Next Marketing, Promotion and Finding New Ways For People To Find You Offline!
